Maury's girls shut down Menchville 52-42

February 23, 2010|By By Dave Johnson | | 247-4649

HAMPTON — — The things Menchville's girls did right all season — from the shut-down defense to the rebounding and offensive execution — were nowhere to be seen Monday night. As a result, the Monarchs took an early exit from the Eastern Region playoffs.

Maury crashed the boards and shut down Menchville's scorers in a 52-42 opening-round win at Phoebus. The Commodores (16-4) held the Monarchs to 33-percent shooting and scored 17 second-chance points to advance.

"They just wanted it more than we did," Menchville coach Aaron Webb said. "We just didn't compete. We didn't get to the loose balls, we didn't do the things we needed to do to advance to the next level.

"The girls need to know — we need to know — that when you get to the playoffs and face this type of competition, you have to lay it all out on the line. We're still a relatively young team and need to grow up experience-wise. We just didn't compete the way we did all year long."

Menchville (19-8), the Peninsula District No. 2 seed and tournament runner-up, trailed from the moment Maury's Kateri Owens hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the first quarter.

Though the Commodores shot only 38 percent themselves, they got extra attempts off the glass. And they went 13-of-16 from the free-throw line to Menchville's 9-of-11.

"That was our goal, to box out and hit the boards," Maury coach Angela Allen said. "We executed well and maintained control of the game."

Dashera Boone, the Monarchs' top scorer, did her damage with 19 points. But Naima Harrington and Cassandra Morgan, both averaging in double figures, combined for 17.

Maury led by four at halftime but outscored Menchville 15-4 in the third quarter by shooting 6-of-9 from the field. The Monarchs went the final 6:42 of the period — and the first 1:03 of the fourth — without a point.

Menchville had only two players who had played in postseason games before — Harrington and Morgan. The inexperience showed Monday night.

"I had hoped they'd be able to explain to the (others) that you have to have a little bit more to advance at this level," Webb said. "But we just didn't execute tonight on defense the way we're supposed to do."

The shooting stats at halftime certainly didn't tell the story. The Monarchs were 9-of-20 (45 percent); the Commodores were 9-of-32 (28 percent). Yet the reason Maury led 26-22 was largely because of its work on the boards.

The Commodores had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, which they converted into 12 second-chance points. The Monarchs had only one board on the offensive end and no points.

Maury advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will play the Princess Anne/Deep Creek winner Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Scope.